Parachute

This one-of-a-kind rig has key features you won't find in any
other parachute system.

Prior to this mission, no personal parachute system had ever
been used for a supersonic freefall from the edge of space. Years
of development and testing resulted in revolutionary drogue
technology, which would have stabilized Felix Baumgartner had it
been necessary during his freefall.

HARNESS AND CONTAINER

The container houses the drogue stabilization chute and the two
landing parachutes (main and reserve), while the harness attaches
the entire rig to Felix Baumgartner and holds two oxygen bottles,
which can supply at least 10 minutes of oxygen at altitude.

The drogue stabilization chute and G meter offer breakthrough
skydiving technology. This is the first personal drogue equipment
ever designed for supersonic deployment, and it's the first ever
designed to function completely independently of the main and
reserve parachutes.

If Felix had become unstable, he would have used the drogue
chute to keep from spinning uncontrollably. A G-meter would have
opened the drogue stabilization chute automatically if Felix
experienced 3.5 Gs or more for a continuous period of 6
seconds.

A drogue deployment button was strategically placed in Felix's
glove. Holding down this button for three seconds would have fired
the drogue stabilization chute.

PARACHUTES

The main parachute is the only parachute in his rig that was
deployed. This nine-cell, ram-air, 270-square-foot/25-square-meter
canopy does not open automatically. Felix pulls the handle to
deploy it at 5,000 feet/1,524 meters.

Felix's main and reserve (emergency) parachutes are rated to be
opened at 150 knots, which means he had to slow to about 172 mph /
277km/h for safe deployment.

Felix could have deployed his reserve parachute manually, but
the system included CYPRES (Cybernetic Parachute Release System)
technology to deploy the reserve automatically if exceeding a
vertical speed of 35 meters (115 feet) per second at a
predetermined altitude (around 2,000 feet / 610 meters).

Packing the reserve parachute takes about an hour, while
packing the main parachute and drogue stabilization chute requires
about 20 minutes each.

Normal skydiving rigs don't have a mechanism to cut away the
reserve parachute, a skydiver's last resource in an emergency. If
Felix's reserve chute inadvertently deployed at high altitude, his
landing would have been delayed so much that he'd run out of
oxygen. In that unlikely situation, Felix would have used a handle
to cut away the reserve parachute and return to freefall, finally
pulling his main parachute once he reaching a "normal"
altitude.

Up until this point, no parachute was guaranteed for jumps
higher than 25,000 feet/7,620 meters. Felix jumped from
approximately 128,100 feet and everything worked as planned.

Drogues are typically attached from the middle of the
skydiver's back, but Felix's drogue stabilization chute hangs from
his shoulders to help reduce the potential for dangerous
spinning.

The initial concept for the Red Bull Stratos personal parachute
system was developed and design process spearheaded by skydiving
consultant Luke Aikins, in collaboration with Felix and the
mission's science team including expert consultants from Sage
Cheshire Aerospace. Luke took his ideas to Kelly Farrington,
founder of Velocity Sports Equipment. Kelly refined Luke's design
and worked with the Red Bull Stratos team to fine-tune and
manufacture the harness and container system and drogue. Meanwhile,
Precision Aerodynamics supplied the main parachute and reserve
parachute. The CYPRES automatic release system was provided by
AIRTEC and the altimeter by Larsen and Brusgaard.

About Velocity Sports Equipment

Velocity Sports Equipment opened in 1998 to cater to a new breed
of skydiver. Its founder, Kelly Farrington, grew up dreaming of
solutions to extreme but mostly hypothetical jumps. The Red Bull
Stratos mission provides a very real opportunity for him to
showcase his company's unique design talents and creativity.
Velocity Sports Equipment has built a specialized parachute harness
system, incorporating a unique drogue system for complete stability
that is unlike current sport and military tandem systems. In an
emergency, there is no need to pull the ripcord to deploy the
parachute; it's automatic. For more information: www.velocityrigs.com

About AIRTEC

A serious investment into research and development, combined
with high-quality practices, has made AIRTEC the technological
leader in the field of Automatic Activation Devices. AIRTEC's
innovative expertise and precise manufacturing has produced CYPRES
(Cybernetic Parachute Release System), a technology that affords
the Red Bull Stratos team the highest levels of safety and
reliability to achieve its goals.

About Larsen and Brusgaard

Larsen and Brusgaard is the preferred supplier of visual wrist
mounted altimeters for the Red Bull Stratos project. The cutting
edge technology and design used in L&B's altimeter, Altitrack,
allows for secure use in harsh environments and trying conditions
and the continuous R&D gives the Red Bull Stratos team the
latest in altitude awareness. L&B is proud to support this
mission with Altitracks for pilot Felix Baumgartner and skydiving
consultant Luke Aikins.